Metroweb, actually not. And no spin-off of the network for Telecom Italia: "Regarding today's press rumors relating to a hypothesis of spin-off of the network, Telecom Italia informs that these are speculations that are absolutely groundless both in terms of the Company's industrial plans and from a regulatory point of view". So read the first lines of an official press release from the largest Italian telecommunications operator in relation to the hypothesis that the Government was thinking of perfecting the golden power rules to avoid hostile takeovers of the fixed telephony network, rightly considered a strategic asset.
But to stir the waters there is another issue which is that of the possible purchase of a part of Metroweb by Telecom itself and which the other private operators see as smoke and mirrors because it would strengthen Telecom's role in broadband. These problems are also beginning to be echoed in Parliament with the request for an intervention by the Antitrust. ire the case opened by the senator of the Democratic Party, Stefano Esposito, vice president of the Infrastructure Commission of Palazzo Madama.
“In recent days – argued Stefano Esposito, Pd vice president of the Infrastructure commission of Palazzo Madama – we are once again talking about the fixed telecommunications network, with a disturbing scenario: the acquisition of the majority of Metroweb by Telecom. The operation, carried out in closed rooms, with which the monopolist would buy the only alternative operator on the fiber to citizens' homes, must be opposed". Esposito had also hoped for the intervention of the Antitrust and the Government: "It is a very delicate phase, in which the Metroweb plan could represent a concrete opportunity to get out of the infrastructural monopoly of the fixed network".
Telecom, however, specified: "First of all, a hypothetical intervention aimed at imposing the corporate separation of the access network would present evident aspects of illegitimacy, since it would directly affect the right of a private entity that owns the network to dispose of and enjoy one's assets. Furthermore, it should be recalled that the telecommunications sector in Italy has been fully liberalized since 1998 and is today characterized by a high level of competition and is widely regulated both at European and national level”, reads the note.
The company also recalled that it is strongly committed to the development of network infrastructures, as confirmed by the important investment plan which in the three-year period 2014-2016 amounts to a total of 9 billion euros, of which 3,4 billion are dedicated to the development of networks and innovative services, both in terms of Fiber and 4G.
In mid-afternoon the Telecom title Italy crashes in Piazza Affari, on an already particularly negative day for the Milan Stock Exchange: at 15,30 pm it loses over 6% to 0,7485 euro.
